


A Hard Day's Night

by Duckgomery



Series: This Old House [6]
Category: Rise of the Guardians (2012)
Genre: Bunny can cook, Gen, Human AU, Jack Has Issues, Pitch totally doesn't use his housemates as character fodder, Teacher Tooth, Tooth is everyone's mum
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-02-10
Updated: 2013-02-10
Packaged: 2017-11-28 20:21:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,179
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/678522
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Duckgomery/pseuds/Duckgomery
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sometimes you just want to come home after a stressful day at work and relax. Poor Tooth.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Hard Day's Night

**Author's Note:**

> And we have another, churning these out faster than I anticipated, let's hope this pace keeps up.

 

                As much as Tooth adored her job, today had not been a good day.

                Pulling into the garage in her fourth-hand car, a decade old at least, she turned the engine off and sat there in a slump, head pressed to the wheel.

                After what seemed like forever, but was merely minutes, Tooth gave herself a once over in her rear view mirror. Patting down her frizzing hair here, neatening her smudging make up there. Over all composing herself into the cheery, bubbly persona that she was notorious for. This was despite the fact that for tonight, at least, it’d be a farce.

As she places her bag down in order to remove her coat, Tooth can tell that she isn’t in for the quiet night she so desperately requires.

Bunny and Jack had always butted heads, but this yelling match between the two was something new.

Tooth walked straight past the kitchen, not in the mood to play peace maker, as was often required on her part, and vacated up to her room. The door to which clicked softly behind her.

The loud voices continued to raise to the point that even her pillow, held over her head and smudged with mascara, couldn’t block out the sound.

Enough was enough.

Tooth bursts into the kitchen like a hurricane and grabs an ear a piece of Jack and Bunny, dragging the two of them to the lounge room.

As soon as she lets go, the boys take the silent order, sitting at opposite ends of the couch, eyes locked onto their feet.

Tooth stands there, hands locked onto her hips with an expression that could make an elephant want to grow wings and fly away, and waits.

It’s only a matter of time before one of them cracks.

Jack’s arms are crossed tightly over his slight torso, barely visible in the canopy that is his preferred, severely oversized hoodie.

Bunny’s leg is bouncing like crazy, the man on the verge of just getting up and running out of the room. He doesn’t deal well in pressure situations like this, too fidgety for this grade of interrogation.

Tooth had found her weak link.

“Bunny, explain.”

Bunny, who dwarfs Tooth by a foot when standing, flinches, still refusing to meet her gaze.

“Ethan.” And now she meant business, if her tone wasn’t any indication already.

If Bunny had a tail, it’d be hanging down between his legs.

“It wasn’t my fault he blew up like that. I just moved stuff around, cleaning and everything,”

“Just moved stuff around! You moved my stuff up to the top shelf. I’m not a freakishly tall person!” Jack bit back, eyes blazing.

There had to be another layer to this. Tooth gives an audible sigh, realising she’s going to have to be the one to dig it up.

Pitch slinks into the room, un-noticed by the three other occupants.

“Did you think to ask Jack first before you moved his stuff, Bunny?”

“No, and before you ask, it was for the simple fact that he would have not agreed to my suggestion just to spite me.”

“I would have disagreed not because of that but for the fact that it’s a stupid idea.” Jack moodily offers.

Bunny shoots a glare his way.

Tooth hated it how she comes home to her work at times.

“Bunny, you’re how old? You should know better. Jack, why did it upset you so much?”

Seriously, it was like dealing with her third graders all over again.

“Yeah, pipsqueak, what got your panties in a twist?”

Jack visibly bristles and all Tooth can do is bring one palm up to her face.

The idiot.

“You’re always like this, treating me like I’m some kid incapable of making decisions. You’re not my Dad, and this isn’t your house, so you have no right to make choices for me, or think you know what’s best for me, OK?! I’m sick of your condescending behaviour, alright?!” Jack’s voice breaks towards the end, and away he goes.

Bunny looks down guiltily at his thumbs, which he solemnly twiddles.

Pitch goes back to scrawling some notes down on one of his ever present notebooks.

“Way to strike a nerve with him, Ethan.”

And that’s all the permission Bunny needs before he to vacates the room.

Tooth a moment, composing her-self once more, before heading back to her room.

Pitch knows enough about reading body language to make an assumption or two.

He had some work to do.

With a final flourish onto the hastily covered page, he snaps the notebook close and goes off to make things happen.

Tooth was pleasantly surprised when Pitch called her downstairs, to find that dinner was cooked and everyone was waiting for her.

Everyone but Jack.

Sandy and North were both oblivious to what had gone down earlier, not noticing how nervous Bunny looked. Jack’s absence at meal times wasn’t exactly a rare occurrence after all.

“So how be your day at work, Tooth?” North asked, his mouth full of quiche.

“Horrible. They were all in the mood to not be anything but a nuisance. Not to mention it was raining during lunch, so they were stuck inside, and boy were they stir crazy. Not to mention flu season and parent teacher night are both coming up, it’s only going to get worse,” Tooth whines, to which the others chuckle and offer half-hearted condolences.

It was times like this that she loved living with the boys. They never called her out on complaining and moaning like some of her girlfriends would. And they knew how to have a laugh.

If only they’d act their age.

“Thanks for cooking tonight, Bunny. Food was great, as usual,” she smiles over to Bunny, his previous demeanour evaporates.

“Now if you don’t mind, I need to plan my lessons for next week.” And with that, Tooth excuses herself, rinsing her plate off in the sink and loading it up into the dishwasher.

She walks back into her room for the third time that evening, only to find that she isn’t alone.

Jack sits, curled up on her bed.

“Sorry ‘bout earlier, I’m in a mood.”

It’s hard to see his face, Jack having pulled his hood up. His voice sounds genuinely remorseful, and tired.

“It’s fine, Jack. We all have days.” Tooth takes a seat next to him, causing the soft bed to dip beneath their combined weight.

“I’m sure that the guys have saved some food for you, you should go and get some before it goes cold or North gets to it,” she offers.

Jack’s head just falls to rest on her shoulder, head shaking slowly.

“Nah, not hungry. I’ll get something later.” The second part sounding like it was merely tacked on to ease her concerns. None the less, at least he was speaking, more or less.

“Well, it’s your loss, Bunny made quiche.”

At the mention of Bunny’s name, Jack snorts.

“Not eating anything that Kangaroo makes.”

Sometimes it really felt like she had a full time babysitting job.


End file.
